PRESS RELEASE PAGE: Black Blade Publishing in the News

FASTER MONKEY GAMES to partner with BLACK BLADE PUBLISHING

Press Release

October 1, Silver Spring, Maryland: Indy RPG designer FASTER MONKEY GAMES is proud to announce a new partnership with BLACK BLADE PUBLISHING. Black Blade will sell print and PDF copies of Faster Monkey’s popular old-school modules and game aids.

“From day one, Black Blade has generously supported the Old School Renaissance,” says monkeyboy Jeff Sparks. “We’re honored to work with them as we make the jump to the world of print.”

The partnership officially begins this month with Faster Monkey’s critically-acclaimed adventure SKULL MOUNTAIN. The best-selling module will be available in PDF and high-quality print formats with a classic module design.

Further Faster Monkey products are planned for frequent, regular release. Like all Black Blade offerings, the products are printed on traditional offset presses, resulting in excellent print quality and rapid order fulfillment.

Faster Monkey Games was launched in February 2010 by brothers Joel and Jeff Sparks. The company has published 16 popular RPG products in 8 months, supporting games like Labyrinth Lord™, OSRIC™, Mutant Future™, and Savage Worlds. Faster Monkey products frequently appear in the Top Sellers lists on major PDF retail sites. Blogs, twitter feeds, and product information can be found at fastermonkeygames.com.

October 27, 2009 – Mythmere Games, developer and publisher of the ENnie-award winning Swords & Wizardry fantasy role-playing game, is pleased to announce an exclusive agreement with Black Blade Publishing to publish the Swords & Wizardry Core Rules and Knockspell magazine, and to lead the charge to get Swords & Wizardry into retail distribution. The first print releases under this agreement will be a softcover version of the 124-page Swords & Wizardry Core Rulebook and Knockspell #3.

Working with Studio 2 Publishing as its distribution partner, Black Blade Publishing expects the Swords & Wizardry Core Rulebook to start hitting the shelves of brick and mortar game stores by February of 2010. In addition, the in-print version of the Swords & Wizardry Core Rulebook will be available for purchase directly from Black Blade Publishing or through select retailers by late-October, 2009.

Electronic copies of the Swords & Wizardry Core Rulebook will be available immediately directly from Black Blade Publishing, and will be available very soon directly from Studio 2 Publishing, DrivethruRPG, RPGNow and YourGamesNow.

Print versions of Knockspell #3 are available for purchase directly from Black Blade Publishing, and issue #4 may be distributed to stores around February of 2010, at the same time as the core rules.

Electronic copies of Knockspell #3 are now available from Black Blade Publishing, and will be available very soon directly from Studio 2 Publishing, DrivethruRPG, RPGNow or YourGamesNow.

“The Swords & Wizardry fantasy role-playing game is about a lot more than a return to the way these games used to be played. Swords & Wizardry unapologetically throws off 30 years of re-imagining and so-called ‘fixing’ of the original rules, returning to the wonder and mystery of “free-form” fantasy gaming without complicated rules and long rulebooks. Black Blade Publishing is very excited to be publishing the key Swords & Wizardry titles from Mythmere Games. The quality of new products being introduced in the old school gaming community is amazing, and we are really excited to be a part of it.” -- Jon Hershberger, co-founder of Black Blade Publishing

Founded in 2008 by Matthew J. Finch, Mythmere Games is best known for the Swords & Wizardry fantasy role-playing game, the award-winning retro-clone of the original 1974 edition of the world’s most popular fantasy game. For additional information, visit www.swordsandwizardry.com.

Formed in 2009 by Jon Hershberger and Allan Grohe, Black Blade Publishing will begin publishing the Swords & Wizardry Core Rulebook in October 2009 under license from Mythmere Games. For additional information, visit www.black-blade-publishing.com.

Studio 2 Publishing has been serving the games hobby industry since 2004, serving game designers and publishers as a sales and marketing organization as well as providing fulfillment and inventory management services. For additional information, visit www.studio2publishing.com.

June 6, 2009 – Goodman Games, developer and publisher of the hugely-popular line of Dungeon Crawl Classics line of adventures for fantasy role-playing campaigns, is pleased to announce an agreement with Black Blade Publishing to publish adaptations of the Dungeon Crawl Classics line of adventures for First Edition fantasy role-playing games. The first release is First Edition Dungeon Crawls: Secret of Smuggler’s Cove, adapted from Dungeon Crawl Classics #7: Secret of Smuggler’s Cove. This 32-page adventure module is fully compatible with the First Edition of the world’s most-popular fantasy role-playing game, any of the other early editions of that game, or any of their modern simulacra.

First Edition Dungeon Crawls: Secret of Smuggler’s Cove will be initially released at the North Texas RPG Con in Dallas, TX, June 5-7, and will be available for purchase directly from Black Blade Publishing immediately thereafter.

Black Blade Publishing has scheduled two more releases in 2009, beginning in the fall with First Edition Dungeon Crawls: The Golden Palace of Zahadran, adapted from DCC # 32: The Golden Palace of Zahadran, followed by First Edition Dungeon Crawls: Devil in the Mists, adapted from DCC #40: Devil in the Mists, a sequel to Dungeon Crawl Classics #7: Secret of Smuggler’s Cove.

“The old school gaming community continues to build momentum. Some of the more forward-looking members of this community are focused on expanding their love of the hobby by looking forward toward new fans, not only backward toward nostalgia. Jon Hershberger is one such person and I’m glad to be working with him on his Black Blade adaptations,” said Goodman Games President Joseph Goodman.

Jon Hershberger, co-founder of Black Blade Publishing, added, “The Dungeon Crawl Classics line of adventure modules has provided countless hours of fun and role-playing goodness for fantasy gamers all over the world. Black Blade Publishing is very excited to publish some of the most popular d20 adventure modules from Goodman Games for the early edition fantasy role-playing games. The quality and quantity of products being introduced in the old school gaming community right now is amazing.We’re really happy to be a part of that thriving old school gaming community.”

Founded in 2002 by Joseph Goodman, Goodman Games is a game publisher best known for their Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure modules. For additional information, visit www.goodman-games.com.

Formed in 2009 by Jon Hershberger and Allan Grohe, Wichita-based Black Blade Publishing will begin publishing First Edition Dungeon Crawls in June 2009 under license from Goodman Games. For additional information, visit www.black-blade-publishing.com.